A ghostly kiss caresses the back of her hand. There is nothing there but the wind, and yet she feels him as steadily as if he were solid and beside her. There are stars above, but there are clouds also; why would they even try to go ‘stargazing’ on a night like this? Stadium lighting illuminates things farther away, and the sound of cars crunching across gravel and dogs barking too nearby makes her start, nervous. He soothes her, but anyway she’s always too nervous about the time. Being here again, even without him, even in the rain and the thunder and the mud slopping around the soles of her feet, makes it seem like she is no longer alone.

But she isn’t there, and she is alone.

Lightning flashes beyond the window. There are tears, because anyone who comes close to her leaves her alone in the end. Fate, perhaps, or just a subtly off-putting personality that she cannot correct, no matter how many other people she tries to be.

She cannot sleep. She cannot feel. There is nothing to see but rain, and nothing to hear but thunder, so she curls up at the junction of two walls and tries not to let herself think any longer.